Canberra

Canberra Arts

Canberra’s arts life stretches from hands-on making and artist-run spaces to professional stages, orchestral music, screen development and community-led creative practice. You can watch glass being formed in Kingston, work with clay in Watson, explore printmaking, join a choir, learn circus skills or see new theatre take shape. Across the city, studios, companies, teachers and arts organisations create ways for children, young people, adults, emerging practitioners and experienced artists to participate, collaborate and share work.

The region also supports the practical side of creativity: workshops, commissions, rehearsal and performance opportunities, artist development, specialist facilities and connections across the ACT. The following local organisations offer distinct ways to make, learn, perform, encounter and support the arts.

🎶 Music & Singing

Canberra Symphony Orchestra

Canberra Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra presenting orchestral and chamber music. Its community programs take music into schools, hospitals, aged-care settings and diverse-abilities settings, while Future Pathways supports youth development and mentoring for emerging musicians. Audiences can attend performances, and musicians interested in development opportunities can explore the orchestra’s community and pathway programs.

Canberra. ☎ +61 2 6247 9191 general enquiries; ☎ +61 2 6262 6772 ticketing.

Canberra Choral Society

Canberra Choral Society performs as a symphonic choir. Its ongoing chorus is auditioned, while Come & Sing projects provide a non-auditioned way for guest choristers to rehearse and perform in a full-scale concert. Ongoing members are expected to attend rehearsals and practise independently, making this a structured option for singers seeking regular ensemble work.

Reid, Canberra.

MusicACT

MusicACT is the ACT peak body for contemporary music, working with musicians, artists, venues and audiences. It provides professional-development opportunities, resources, industry connections and policy work, alongside inclusive programs for the local contemporary music sector. Musicians and music organisations can use its sector connections and development activities to build practice and engagement across Canberra and the ACT.

Canberra and ACT.

Noisy Futures

Formerly Girls Rock! Canberra, Noisy Futures creates inclusive spaces for girls, trans and cis, trans-boys, gender-diverse and intersex young people to learn, create and collaborate in music. Its community focus centres young participants as music-makers, offering a setting where creative development and collaboration happen together.

Canberra and neighbouring regional and rural areas.

🩰 Dance & Circus

Quantum Leap Australia

Quantum Leap Australia, formerly QL2 Dance, is a contemporary dance company for young people. Weekly term classes at Gorman Arts Centre include contemporary technique, creative lab, ballet and Creative Moves for ages 4–7, with classes led by professional dance artists. It combines ongoing learning with contemporary dance practice and gives young dancers several ways to develop movement and creativity.

Gorman Arts Centre, 55 Ainslie Avenue, Braddon ACT 2612. ☎ (02) 6247 3103 general enquiries and classes.

Warehouse Circus

Warehouse Circus is a not-for-profit youth and community circus organisation offering classes in juggling, acrobatics, unicycle, hula hoop and trapeze. Introductory and advanced programs cater for children, teenagers, adults and older people, with performance opportunities alongside skill development. It is a practical place to explore circus disciplines at different experience levels.

Chifley Health and Wellbeing Hub, 4/70 MacLaurin Crescent, Chifley ACT. Also serving Kaleen. ☎ (02) 6260 3626 programs enquiries.

🎭 Theatre & Performance

Canberra Youth Theatre

Canberra Youth Theatre creates productions and runs theatre workshops for school Years 1–12. Its emerging-artist programs are for ages 16–25. Workshops use creative play, skills development, devised work and performance-making with professional workshop artists, giving young people ways to perform, make original work and build theatre skills through supported practice.

Gorman Arts Centre, B Block, Batman Street, Braddon ACT 2612. ☎ 02 6248 5057 general enquiries and workshop assistance.

The Street Theatre

The Street Theatre is a professional performing-arts organisation commissioning, developing, producing and presenting theatre, music and comedy. Its work with artists includes creative development and casting, while volunteering provides another way to connect with the organisation. Audiences can encounter varied performance work, and practitioners can explore opportunities connected with production and development.

Acton, Canberra.

Rebus Theatre

Rebus Theatre makes work with artists, organisations and communities. Its programs span theatre, training and community practice, including Forum Theatre and projects involving artists with disability. The company’s collaborative model connects performance-making with participation, learning and social engagement, offering scope for communities and practitioners to work together on devised theatre projects.

Canberra.

🎨 Visual Artists, Studios & Printmaking

M16 Artspace

M16 Artspace is an artist-run artspace with three gallery spaces, 30 artist studios and resident arts organisations offering classes. It supports emerging and established artists, writers and curators, and provides studio and workshop space. Visitors can encounter exhibitions, while artists and arts workers can connect with a working environment that combines presentation, making and creative development.

21 Blaxland Crescent, Griffith ACT 2603. ☎ 02 6295 9438 general enquiries.

Megalo Print Studio

Megalo Print Studio provides facilities for screenprint, lithography, relief, intaglio and Riso printmaking. Members can use the studios, and classes and workshops cater for varied experience levels. The studio also undertakes print-based commissions, making it relevant both to people learning a technique and to artists or organisations seeking professionally produced printed work.

Kingston, Canberra.

Canberra Art Workshop

Canberra Art Workshop offers courses and workshops across drawing, watercolour, charcoal, encaustic work, textiles and printmaking. Activities run at M16 Artspace in Griffith and Belconnen Arts Centre, giving participants access to a varied program across two Canberra locations. The mix of media supports both focused skill-building and broader exploration of visual art practice.

Griffith and Belconnen, Canberra.

🏺 Craft & Making

Canberra Glassworks

Canberra Glassworks is a contemporary glass-art centre with artist studios, workshops, exhibitions and opportunities to watch glassmaking. Classes include hotshop blowing, kiln fusing, flamework and casting, with options for beginners and experienced makers. It brings studio practice, public viewing and skills development together in a specialist glass environment.

11 Wentworth Avenue, Kingston ACT 2604. ☎ +61 (2) 6260 7005 general enquiries.

Canberra Potters

Canberra Potters is a ceramics hub supporting personal and professional development in ceramic arts practice. Its Watson base includes studio-based clay learning, workshop support and gallery activity, with separate contacts for general, office and class enquiries and for workshop enquiries. It suits makers looking to develop an ongoing relationship with clay, as well as people seeking structured studio learning.

1 Aspinall Street, Watson ACT 2602. ☎ 02 6241 1670 general enquiries, office and classes; ☎ 02 6241 7800 workshop enquiries.

Strathnairn Arts

Strathnairn Arts is a not-for-profit arts association with studios and facilities for painters, sculptors, potters, textile artists, printmakers, woodworkers and installation artists. Members may access ceramic kilns, a foundry, studios and a shop, while public programs include workshops, exhibitions and demonstrations. Its broad facilities bring several material practices together in one arts setting.

90 Stockdill Drive, Holt ACT 2615. ☎ (02) 6254 2134 general enquiries; not for café bookings.

Craft + Design Canberra

Craft + Design Canberra supports artists, craft practitioners, designers and makers through exhibitions, retail, events, workshops, member opportunities and its annual Craft + Design Canberra Festival. The organisation connects creative work with public presentation and participation, giving makers ways to exhibit, sell, learn and engage with Canberra’s craft and design community.

North Building, 1, 180 London Circuit, Canberra ACT 2601. ☎ +61 2 6262 9333 general enquiries.

🎬 Photography, Film & Digital Arts

ANU School of Art & Design

ANU School of Art & Design provides teaching workshops in ceramics, glass, printmaking, bookmaking, photography, digital media, digital fabrication, textiles, wood and sculpture. Specialist practitioners and technicians support the workshops, creating a substantial learning environment across traditional materials and digital processes. It is based in Acton and connects practical studio skills with art and design study.

Acton, Canberra.

Screen Canberra

Screen Canberra supports film, television and digital-media practitioners across the ACT. Its work includes funding programs and career-development opportunities for ACT screen practitioners, helping local people develop screen projects and professional practice. It is particularly relevant to filmmakers, producers and digital-media practitioners seeking sector support rather than a public exhibition venue.

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, McCoy Circuit, Acton ACT 2601. ☎ +61 2 6248 2140 general enquiries.

✍️ Writing & Storytelling

MARION

MARION is a literary organisation offering a mentorship program for early-career writers developing fiction, nonfiction and poetry manuscripts with mentors. Its focus is sustained manuscript development and support for writers and literary culture in the ACT region. Writers working across these forms can use the program to deepen a project through a mentoring relationship.

Canberra.

🤝 Arts Organisers & Community Connections

Tuggeranong Arts Centre

Tuggeranong Arts Centre is a community arts centre in Canberra’s south presenting workshops and classes across dance, visual art, music and theatre. It also offers exhibition, performance and venue-hire activity. The centre brings learning, participation and public presentation together, serving people who want to try a discipline as well as artists and groups seeking arts activity in the Tuggeranong area.

Greenway, Canberra.

Across Canberra, these organisations make room for first experiments, committed practice, professional development, ensemble participation and shared audiences. A class, workshop, rehearsal, exhibition, concert or community project can be the beginning of a longer creative connection, whether you are making work yourself or supporting the people who do.

Are you a local artist, maker, teacher, company, group or arts-support business? You are warmly invited to add or update your Arts-Directory listing so Canberra audiences and creative practitioners can discover your work.

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